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Windows XP problem

Well, I have a laptop here that is giving me problems. I need to try and get some files from its documents folder. Obviously it doesn't boot up and gives me constant errors. I have tried redoing all the registries from the repair folder and still no luck. I'm now trying to just save the documents and wipe it out. Well, it seems that I cannot access any other folders except system folders when logged into the recivery console. There is one way around it though. You have to set group policies in the main OS (prior to crashing) to allow you to use the SET commands to allowremovablemdia and allowallpaths. Now comes the next question. Is theer a way to edit the registry from the command prompt in windows XP? I've looked and looked to no avail. I basically have to edit the software hive to set:

You can access the documents folder using the win2k pro recovery cd.
You won't be able to access the registry though.

It won't prompt you for a password, because it can't find the registry.

You have the ability to access both system files, and all other folders too.

You CAN copy to external media, though you aren't supposed to be able to.
You will be able to add, copy, modify etc. any file/folder on the HD.

If worse comes to worse... Time for surgery.

Pop out the hdd and put it in another box as a slave. NT/2k/XP with NTFS if thats what the laptop was using. As long as the files aren't encrypted using the XP encryption feature, you will be able to recover those files. There is a laptop hdd to desktop hdd IDE converter you can get for like US $5 or so. Most electronic stores have these... like radio shack. You will have a hard time finding them at office max or best buy.

I might be misunderstanding what you are asing but I wanted to mention to you that you should try hooking the laptop hard drive up to a desktop (there is a piece of hardware that will allow you to do this) then set it as a slave drive, boot up the computer and access it as another drive, you should then be able to navigate your way to the proper drive and be able to take out any data you may need.

If this doesnt work you should try using nortons ghost to backup the hard drive and then you can use ghost explorer to find what you want to restore and do that too.

in XP there is the 'reg' command line utility by default.
It is a resource kit tool for 2k for as far as I know.
Just type 'reg /?' at the command prompt.
I am not on XP right now so I can't check but it should be somewthing like:
reg add "\\box\hk*\key"

You can also use a Linux distro with NTFS support enabled (after a re-compilation of the kernel generally, I know). I assume that a little distro bootable on a floppy disk or a cd may exist with this option enabled by default. It would be easier in some situations than plugging the hdd on another pc.